To Take a Cup of Kindness
by BadMomma
Summary: *YAOI* Many years in their future a chance encounter with an old friend brings back good memories to the guys.


To Take a Cup of Kindness

"Heero? Heero Yuy?"

I look up from the display case I've been perusing at the sound of my name wondering who would recognize me here when a figure emerges from the shuffle of passers-by. "Relena?"

"Yes! Oh Heero, it is you! What a surprise!" She rushes to greet me with a gentle but heartfelt smile. No matter how much time passes, some things never change.

"A pleasant surprise, indeed," we embrace briefly before stepping back. "It's been so long. How are you, Relena?"

"I'm fine. Great! Tickled, actually, that I would run in to you. Here, of all places! I wish I'd known you were going to be in Tokyo, we could have arranged to get together!"

"Well, it was a bit of a surprise to me too. An opportunity presented itself two weeks ago, a gallery called, and we decided to come. We'll be here through Monday, maybe we can…"

"Oh no! I leave for the weekend with some colleagues later this afternoon, what bad timing!"

She makes a grimace of frustration that I answer with smile of understanding. With renewed resolution she gives my arm a quick squeeze, "Another time, then. So tell me, what's this about a gallery? Is Duo still-" Apparently at a loss for words, she waves her hand about.

"Putting out work? Yes, actually." I chuckle at the sudden color on her cheeks. While she has always politely supported him, I know his earlier pieces had never really been in the realm of what she appreciated. "Don't worry, though, his sculptures have decreased in size relative to his increase in age."

"Oh, well I-", she makes a nervous gesture I've seen before, tucking an imaginary stray hair back into place. "It's not like there was anything wrong with the large pieces, they just… Well I can't imagine there's a gallery in Tokyo big enough to house any of them."

"No," I laugh with her, "there's not. At least not that I'm aware of. Actually, Duo had a showing with this gallery a few years ago. He'd left them a few pieces on consignment and they recently expressed an interest in showcasing some of his newer work."

"Well that's great, Heero! But what about you, what are you doing? The business must be doing very well if you can take off on such short notice?"

"Oh, well." I can almost feel my own cheeks coloring, though why I still have this reaction is a mystery to me. It is nothing to be embarrassed about. "Actually, I need even less notice than Duo does these days. I sort of retired a few years ago."

"What? But- I don't understand, you loved your work."

"I did. I still do, really, and some days I miss it, but… most days I don't. I've found other things to keep myself busy. I get to spend more time with Duo; I'm free to travel whenever we want; I've done small projects around the house – you should see the back porch now, it's a veritable outdoor lounge!"

"Impressive!", she crows.

I take the ribbing in stride, I know the teasing is not without a certain amount of pride in me. "And some days… Well, I just pretend to read while I watch him work – which is something I've always found interesting."

"That sounds wonderful, I'm so happy for you! And the family? The boys, right? How are they doing?"

"The boys? Their fine, doing very well, I'd say."

She looks past me, perhaps hoping to see one of them. "Are they traveling with you?"

"Actually, it's just the two of us again, both the boys have moved out on their own. Kei, the younger one, finished his master's degree just last spring and moved to London right after graduation where he had an excellent position waiting for him. And a lovely young English girl as well."

"No! Wasn't Kei just a toddler the last time I saw him, right after you adopted him? At… someone's wedding, I think. Has it really been that long?"

I chuckle at her look of genuine shock. "I know you've seen him since then." I'm almost positive both boys were with us at the funeral. "Think about it, Relena, we adopted him twenty years ago. He's engaged to be married now."

"Oh God! Either I'm losing my mind or I'm showing my age!" We both laugh at her embarrassment as she tucks another undisturbed hair back into place while averting her eyes. I can't help shaking my head. "Now that you mention it, you're right. Of course I've seen him since. What was I thinking?"

"It's alright, the years really do seem to slip away in the blink of an eye. I'm his father and I can hardly believe it myself."

"So the older one – Reiji was it? – he's been out of the nest even longer?"

"Ah yes, Reiji. Officially, he goes by Reggie now and he moved out almost five years ago. As a matter of fact, we haven't heard from him in almost a year."

"Oh Heero, I'm so sorry, I didn't know." She seems genuinely concerned, "I've brought up a painful subject,"

"No, no, it's nothing like that, he's just… He was always a bit non-conformist, let's say. He didn't want to keeping studying after high school, said he wanted to experience life first-hand. He spent some time doing odd jobs; convoys, freight-work, he even did a stint with the Sweepers but found that space travel was not to his liking either. The last time we heard from him he was living in an artist's commune somewhere in South America. Duo calls him our bohemian." I shrug. As much as I find it frustrating, if there's one thing I've learned it's that you have to let your children be who they are. "Kei tried to get a hold him before the graduation but never managed it. When Reiji gets caught up in whatever it is that moves him he completely disconnects from the rest of the world. In some ways, he takes after his father."

That seems to catch her off guard and she fumbles a bit before answering. "Oh, so you knew his birth father?"

I smile widely at her reaction, "I do!" An awkward confusion clouds her face momentarily, making me grin wider, "So do you." Either no one thought to tell her way back when or her information network was not sufficiently informed. "Duo is his father. His biological father." Her reaction to this news is priceless.

"Oh." An entering patron brushes past her and we sidestep out of the doorway. I guess it gives her a moment to process and hers eyes snap back to mine. "Duo? But- Oh! So he's from- Good heavens, I just keep putting my foot in my mouth today, don't I?" A hint of color rises on her cheeks again and I can only imagine what she must be thinking. I shake my head to negate whatever crazy theories she's formulating – though I've probably heard them all – and take her elbow to maneuver us out onto the sidewalk.

The clock in the window of a shop across the street has reminded me that I have somewhere to be soon. "Were you headed somewhere? We could talk on the way?"

In a gesture reminiscent of long ago, a soft fist rises to rest over her heart, "Oh Heero, I'm keeping you from something. You must think me completely inconsiderate. I'm so sorry."

"No, not at all." I point in either direction down the street, looking for some direction. "We haven't seen each other in ages and I'm in no rush."

"This way," she points in the direction of the transport station before tucking her hand into the crook of my offered elbow. "Are you sure this is OK?"

"Yes, of course, I have plenty of time and I was headed this way too." We walk silently for a moment, enjoying the cold air and each other's company.

I catch her glancing slyly at me and raise an eyebrow in question.

She hedges, "So Duo is...?"

"Reiji's father, yes." I smile in remembrance – both at her curiosity and the memories. "When we decided we wanted to… have a family, we considered all the options. Obviously there was no way for us to produce a child together, but either one of us could if we used a surrogate." A chuckle escapes me at one particular memory and she squeezes my arm to get me to tell. "Would you believe that we flipped for it? To decide which one of us would be a father first?"

"What do you mean 'you flipped'?"

"We flipped a coin. An old coin some art dealer had given Duo as a present, a doubloon I think. At the time I thought it only fitting that Duo had won since it was his coin. Later, I was just glad it had worked out that way or he might not have agreed to it."

Nudging me in the direction of a tea kiosk, she considers that. "Why Heero, what happened? "

I pay for our tea and we take a seat on a nearby bench. "Duo didn't want to wait, he used to tease that he didn't want me to back out of the arrangement, so right before Reiji was born, I went in for… I went…" At a loss for words, I'm shocked at the sudden heat that flushes my face. Now it's her turn to chuckle at my embarrassment.

"To make a deposit?" she asks coyly.

"Uh, yes, quite. Nicely put." She squeezes my arm again, perhaps to put me at ease, or perhaps to get me to continue. "I couldn't. Father a child, that is. We found out I'm sterile."

Her free hand slips into mine, gripping tightly. "Oh Heero, I'm so sorry! I knew Kei was adopted, I'd always just assumed Reiji was too. That must have been so hard on both of you."

I don't really have to think about it, the memories are vivid enough though the pain has diminished over time. "It was. But I think more so for Duo than for me. I never felt cheated or jealous that I couldn't and I was very happy that we'd had Reiji, that he was ours – Duo's – by birth. But for a long time I think Duo felt some twisted form of guilt." I shake my head, "I don't know that I can explain it well - "

"You don't have to, I think I can understand why he might have felt that way. And Reiji did eventually grow up to resemble him, physically I mean, the possibility of that had to have occurred to him. You were both very young then, Heero, you'd just started your lives together. He was probably worried that you might come to resent it one day. Countless marriages have fallen apart for lesser reasons."

"I know. And he told me as much, too, not long after we adopted Kei."

I will never forget that day I found him in the boys' room holding Kei – not half a year after he'd come to us – tears falling silently as Reiji napped on the other bed. The quiet words that tumbled out of him as I wiped those tears away have stayed with me always: 'He's yours Heero. As much as Reiji is mine, he's yours. This child couldn't be more yours if you'd given birth to him yourself. He was destined to be ours, love, he looks just like you and he rubs his little fist in circles when he sleeps – just like you! Heaven sent us this gift, by way of someone else, but meant just for you. For us. Things happen for a reason, Heero, maybe you couldn't have your own baby because this one was out there waiting just for you.'

Her soft words bring me back from my memories. "You look happy, Heero."

I meet her gaze, unable to hold back the smile. "I am. Very happy, actually; life has been very good to me these last thirty years."

"Has it really been that long?"

"Almost, yes, New Year's day 201. It'll be twenty-eight years in just a few weeks."

"That doesn't seem possible," she looks me over and grins. "And may I say that I'm inordinately jealous! You look exactly the same as you always have! You haven't aged a bit!"

"I think Duo would disagree with you, he says that pretty soon he's going to have to start counting my dark hairs because the greys have just about outnumbered them." We both laugh at the gross exaggeration, but it makes me think.

If someone hasn't changed it's her. Obviously she looks more mature, who wouldn't after all this time, but she still carries herself with that same dignity and poise. And while we may not have seen each other in person often over the years, we've never completely lost track of each other, neither of us have. That youthful affection for her I'd once briefly thought might be something more has never really diminished. "And you, Relena? You have not aged either. You're still as lovely as when we were young."

"Er. Young-er, thank you very much. You may be an old-married-man with two adult children, but I am not old!" She slaps my arm playfully before standing.

I remain on the bench a moment longer, carefully considering the woman before me. We've been talking almost exclusively about me, my family. I know her to be skilled in manipulating the direction of a conversation, it served her well the fifteen years she spent in the Senate before retiring at the ripe old age of thirty-two. Before meeting and marrying Sebastian Cormack two years later. Before being widowed just three after that.

"What? What are you thinking in that calculating mind of yours, Heero Yuy?"

I stand and reach to adjust the scarf that hangs loosely about her neck. "You're not even fifty. And I'm wondering, Relena Peacecraft, why it is that an intelligent, attractive, worldly woman like yourself never remarried?"

Feigning shock she blurts, "Well aren't we bold all of a sudden?" She fusses over an imagined speck of lint on my sleeve and adjusts the collar of my coat. "All the good men were taken, you know," she adds dramatically, setting us in motion again, "Haven't you and Duo been off the market for thirty years now?"

I chuckle at the near absurdity of her remark, "More than, but really? You were holding out for one of us? I would have thought a certain unfortunately-timed encounter on a rear staircase at a certain celebratory event would have dissuaded you from… expectations as to our availability on 'your market'?"

At this she laughs heartily. "Oh God, I'd completely forgotten about that!" She snickers a little more, casually bumping shoulders with me as we stop at the corner before crossing. "That was rather… enlightening for me. Though I must say, I'd had my suspicions about Duo but I'd never considered whether you might… swing that way."

"It was the hair wasn't it?"

I get a raised brow, "Honestly? That was part of it."

"Your brother's hair was just as long," I point out.

"Yes, I know, and I'd had my suspicions about him too. I'd always thought he and Treize had been strangely close."

"Kushrenada?" I can remember very few occasions where I might have seen them both together but nothing in their demeanor would have made me think that. "Really?"

"Oh yes," she assures me quite seriously, "Confirmed by someone who knew them. It doesn't surprise me that you wouldn't have noticed, though, you didn't seem to notice those things early on."

That brings a laugh from me; Duo has often reminded me of that over the years. I give her a nod of concession before focusing on her again. "You do realize I'm aware that you're trying to divert the conversation."

A coy flutter of eyelashes is all the response I get as we set off across the intersection. When we reach the opposite side, she pulls away, turning to face me. "For now all I can say is… perhaps it's that a suitable opportunity hasn't presented itself. But I do promise to give it some thought and get back to you with a more complete answer in the future."

Now it's my turn to tease, "Before another decade passes?"

"Definitely! And that's a promise as well." She reaches into her handbag and presents me with a small white card. "All my current contact information is on here. I'll be in Tokyo through the end of the year, lecturing at the university, please let me know if you and Duo decide to come back before then. If not, maybe I can arrange to meet up with you in England after the wedding."

"You should come to the wedding!"

"Oh Heero, no, I couldn't possibly impose like that! It really is very sweet of you, but it's not necessary. Kei probably doesn't even remember me."

"Don't be ridiculous, of course he does. He still referred to you as Auntie Relena until a few years ago." She gears up to decline again but I don't let her. "We'll send you an invitation as soon as we get home."

She makes that gentle smile again, raising a hand to my cheek. "You're a good man, Heero, and I do appreciate the offer, but that will be a day for family and close friends. I promise not to let so much time pass us by again."

I take her hand in mine, bowing slightly to kiss the back of it. "You are an old friend Relena, someone both Duo and I share very unique memories with, and you will always be special to us. We'll be in touch, and we'll expect to see you in England for the wedding. The first Saturday in April – don't make any other plans. If you do, I'll sic Duo on you and you know he always gets whatever – and _whom_ever – he's after."

"Oh please! _You're_ the only one he's ever been after!" she scoffs.

"And look where I am thirty years later. Do you need any more proof?"

"Very well,' she sighs, "point taken." She pulls my shoulders toward her, kissing my left cheek, "That's for you," then my right "and that's for Duo. Be well, Heero, both of you, and give him my love." With a final smile she turns to make her way down the sidewalk.

I watch as she disappears into the ever present mass of humanity before checking my watch, if I'm lucky he won't have been waiting long – or at all – as it's only just time for his train to be arriving. I start toward the station still smiling from our encounter. I get about five steps before the sound of Duo's voice stops me again.

"If I wasn't so secure in my own personal masculinity, and your interest in said masculinity, I think I might be jealous."

I turn to find him sitting on a low stone wall mere steps away. The crowd around me surges on, blocking him from view until he stands to meet me halfway.

"Hey, you're early!" I call, stepping out of the throng of human traffic.

"Hey yourself, gorgeous. And yes I am." He smiles warmly at me, moving in for a quick hug. "The train got in a little ahead of time."

"Sorry I'm late! I was just -"

He nods, "Talking to Relena, I saw."

His train was early. He'd been sitting there watching us. "Why didn't you come over? She would have loved to see you; she was asking about you."

He reaches for my hand and steers us back the way I've just come. "You were catching up with an old friend, I didn't want to interrupt. And you're not the only one who can read lips, you know, I know you were talking about me." He wiggles a brow at me without actually making eye contact. "You gonna deliver?"

At first I'm not sure what he means, then I remember her parting words. Leaning into him as we reach the intersection, I buss his cheek. "She sends her love."

A small smile graces his face as he nods, "Mmm, I got that."

"And I invited her to the wedding."

"Caught that too." He shivers, pulling me closer and tucking our joined hands into my coat pocket. "That was very nice of you, by the way, I approve." We make it across the street without further discussion.

As the excitement of finding Duo and meeting up with Relena washes out of me I realize that he is very quiet, his mood hard to gage, "Is everything OK?"

"Yeah, sure. Why wouldn't it be?"

"You're not upset that I was late? Because I was talking to Relena?"

He stops abruptly, moving us to the fringe of the pedestrian flow only after being jostled about. "Heero, why would I be mad that you stopped to talk to Relena? And you weren't late, I was early."

"I don't know, I'm just having a hard time reading your mood, I guess."

"Oh," he shrugs, getting us moving again. "Classify this as… pensive. No maybe – Peacefully pensive? Pensively content?" He shakes it off with another shrug. "Call it what you want. It just occurred to me, you know; old year's ending, new one's starting. Our 'dad' job is pretty much done and we're sort of starting in on the twilight of our lives." 

"We're forty-eight, Duo, I would hope that we're nowhere near the twilight of our lives."

He elbows me half-heartedly without pulling our hands from my pocket. "Metaphorically, babe, I just meant there's no kids left at home. You're retired and I can work when I want to. We're kind of hitting that solitary-couple groove again and… Well, here we are, so far from home, yet you run into an old friend we haven't seen in years. And you seem to have picked up kind of where you left off. You invited her to the wedding, which means we're gonna need to talk to her again within the next couple of months so we can make sure she manages to be there. It's just… kind'a cool, that's all. Old and new. Old is new again."

We pass the spot where Relena and I had just had our tea. Remembering what we'd discussed, I pull him to a stop. He looks at me curiously as I lean in to kiss him. "I love you," I breath against his lips as we part, "and I always will."

The smile he gives me warms me to the core. "Now see, that is something that will never get old."

Fini.

Note: The title comes from the chorus (and one verse) of the modern English version of _Auld Lang Syne_. I heard it just the other day and look what came of it! FYI- As well as celebrating the New Year, _Auld Lang Syne_ is played or sung to commemorate other "endings & beginnings" – including farewells, funerals, graduations, the end of a party or gathering, the election of a new government, and even the closing of a retail store.

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